Golf & More!

There is plenty of racing action today which includes five flat meetings and one jumps card at Fontwell. The flat fixtures are from Thirsk, Sandown, Ffos Las, Salisbury and Newcastle. They have two jumps cards in Ireland at Wexford and Down Royal. The stable does not have any runners.  We had some welcome rain overnight, 18mm in fact!  

Last night, London and the South were declared winners of the 2025 Racing League which reached its conclusion at Southwell. While I get what the competition is trying to do, I cannot say I have really got into the spirit of the league. The London and the Sourh finished with 840 points, with the East finishing second on 765 points. The North finished bottom Of the league on 500 points. Richard Kingscote was crowned leading jockey (riding for the London & the South Team), having earned 299 points from 24 rides. Daniel Muscutt was runner up on 248 points from his 24 rides riding for Team East. Matt Chapman was the winning team manager.  Like the Shergar Cup competition, I think this format needs a bit of change to really engage with racing fans.

The good news from yesterday was that Thurles racecourse was saved from imminent closure. Following a meeting between Horse Racing Ireland and the Molony family who own the course yesterday it was announced the HRI will take charge of the course until March 2025 and the scheduled fixtures (11) up until then, will take place. The first fixture will be on October 9th. This agreement gives all sides more time to try and work out a permanent solution for the racecourse, hopefully meaning it will not be lost forever.

Today, David, myself, Jack, Gerry Supple and a few others will be taking part in a charity golf day for the Injured Jockeys Fund at Mendip Springs golf course. It is a team event and David has two teams, I will let you know how we all get on tomorrow!

Last night in the cricket hundred competition, the Southern Brave beat the Welsh Fire and it all came down to the last few balls.  The win for the Brave secures them fourth place in the table. Somerset easily defeated Gloucestershire in the Metro Bank One Day Cup knock out match yesterday. There are no cricket hundred matches today.

In the US Open tennis, Carlos Alcatraz and Jannik Sinner were both easy winners of their matches and are safely through to the next round. Alcaraz plays against today, as does Brit Emma Radacanu who plays her round of 32 match against ninth seed Rybakina. British number one, Jack Draper was forced to retire from the tournament through injury.

I told my plants I loved them.

Now they are rooting for me.

Happy Friday!